Know Them

FAITH AND CULTURE: Below are several good reads offering succinct overviews of the latest research on the generation of teens in our sessions and classrooms. Particularly good resources exist for understanding how they define and relate to ‘faith.’

• Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the Church Kenda Creasy Dean
  
• Branded: Adolescents Converting From Consumer Faith Katherine Turpin
• Engaging a New Generation: A Vision for Reaching Catholic Teens Frank Mercandante
• Generation Me Jean M. Twenge
• Looking For God: An Unexpected Journey Through Tatoos, Tofu and Pronouns  Nancy Ortberg
• Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers Christian Smith and Melina Lundquist Denton
• Understanding the Digital Generation Ian Jukes, Ted McCain, and Lee Crocket

BRAIN BASICS–Brain research is ever changing and ever evolving, not to mention completely fascinating. Here’s a few of the most readable and most impacting works of the last few years.

• A User’s Guide to the Brain John Ratey
• Brain Rules John Medina
• Play Stuart Brown
• Religious Education and the Brain Jerry Larson
• Spark John Ratey
• The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains Nicholas Carr
• The Teenage Brain Frances E. Jensen with Amy Ellis Nutt